13One day Khawla knocked on the door of my room in the annex. She said Raju had told Grandmother I was often talking to the servants, and so she was very angry. ‘How can I avoid them when I eat in the kitchen?’ I asked.
’You mustn’t mix with them,’ she said with a smile. ‘So Grandmother’s decided you’ll eat with us inside.’
I gave her a big smile. Thank God you’re such a snitch, Raju, I thought to myself.
Raju was mad about this and asked the other servants why I was in the house, but they pretended to be as ignorant about me as he was.
At my first lunch with Grandmother, Hind and Khawla, I found I couldn’t put anything in my mouth. Khawla was offering me dishes, serving yellow rice from a large bowl and putting it on my plate. She gave me a piece of chicken, tomato sauce, salad, littl
